Caster



Patented Jan. 20, 1948 CASTER Frederic W. Parkhll, Wichita, Kans., assignor of one-fourth to Harman R. Brown and onefourth to Walter E. Ludwig, both of Kansas City, Mo.

Application `iuly 30, 1943, Serial No. 496,756

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to casters and more parl ticularly to'caster assemblies of the type having expansible portions for engaging the cavities or hollow legs of furniture orthe like, to secure the caster in assembled condition therewith.

One of the important aims of this invention is to provide a caster asernbly having a unitary, expansible portion constructed to tightly grip, throughout its entire length, the inner surface gf a hollow leg or cavity of an article of furniure.

It is a further object of the instant invention to provide a caster assembly having a simple yet eiective brake incorp-orated therein, for locking the wheel of the caster against rotation.

A yet further aim of the invention is the provision of a caster assembly wherein the support for the brake and wheel substantially encloses these parts to enhance the appearance of the assembly and to prevent, to a large extent, the winding of lint or ravelings around the shaft of the caster wheel.

Other objects will appear during the course of the following specification, referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a caster assembly constructed in accordance with this invention, and mounted in operable position in a furniture leg, shown fragmentarily and in section. Y

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line II-II of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on line III-LIII of Fig. 1. y

Fig. 4 is an inverted plan view of the caster assembly; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section on a central vertical line of Fig. l, but showing the brake in wheel-locking position.

For illustrative purposes, the caster assembly generally designated by the numeral I6, is shown in operable position in the lower end of a hollow, cylindrical member I2 representing the leg of a piece of furniture.

The caster assembly includes a wheel I4, provided with a hub I6 and mounted on a shaft I8 extended transversely through aligned openings 28, formed in spaced walls 22 of a hood or casing 24. Walls 22 are preferably reinforced by bosses 26 around openings 26 to provide extended bearing surfaces for shaft I8.

A brake arm 28 pivotally mounted on one of the casing walls 22 by a pin 30 at a point spaced above the axis of wheel I4, terminates at one end in a finger 32 having a tapered leading edge 34. As clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the tapered edge 34 of finger 32 serves as a wedge to facilitate entrance of the nger between one end face of hub I6 and a similar side face of the adjacent boss 26 when the brake is swung about its pivot 30 to wheel-locking position. The oposite end of brake arm 28 extends through an elongated slot 36 formed in casing 24 and terminates in a winged boss 38 to provide a relatively large surface for the application of a foot to operate the brake.

In order to prevent accidental movement of brake arm 28 to wheel-engaging position by action of gravity, aligned indentures 46 and 42 are provided in wall 22 and arm 28 respectively, the inherent resiliency of arm 28 tending to maintain frictional engagement of one indentation with the other. A wall 44 closes the upper end of hood 24 and is provided with a planar horizontal portion reinforced by a washer 46 in integral relation therewith. Openings 48 are provided in the combined horizontal portion and washer 46 for receiving a sleeve 50 surrounding the lower end of a bolt or shank 52. The extreme lower end of bolt 52 is reduced in diameter for the reception of a washer 54' heldv thereon by riveting the reduced end as shown in Fig. 2, washer 54 frictionally bearing against the lower face of top wall 44 while sleeve 50,'rigid to wall 44, likewise embraces a substantial part of of bolt 52.

It will be noted from Fig. 2 that washers46 serves as a lower race for a circular series of bearing balls 56 mounted in an upper race 58, which in turn is seated in a retainer 60 having a depending annular ange 62 surrounding the upper race and roughened on its outer surface for a purpose presently disclosed. The central portion 64 of retainer 68 is upset and is closed except for an opening 66'formed therein to receive bolt 52. Any suitable means such as welding, indicated at 61, may be employed to secure the retainer 68 to bolt 52. The outer surface of upset porti-on 64 is slightly tapered upwardly as clearly shown in Fig. 2 to enter the recessed lower end of an expansible jaw member '68. A conical recess 18 in the upper end of member 68 is adapted to receive an expander nut 12 threadedly enf gaging bolt 52.

As will be observed, jaw member 68 is unitary in construction and is provided with a radial bottom ange 14 and a plurality of parallel vertical ribs 16. intervening slots 18 extend between ribs 16 through a greater portion of the length the lower portion of jaw member 68, one of said slots extending throughout the entire length of the jaw member to split the latter. A protuberance 80 on expander nut 12 is dimensioned to ride in one of the slots 1B for preventing rotative movement of nut 12 relative to jaw member 68.

When Zprepnarrigto Vmount a caster constructed as abovedescribed, in the hollow leg of a piece of furniture, the expander nut 'I2 is rst turned in bolt 52 to withdraw said nut from recess 19, thereby removing any expanding force which might be exerted on jaw member 68. The latter is then inserted in the leg 'with ribs 16 in siight frictional engagement With-the inner surface vof the annular leg wall. Such friction is sufficient to prevent rotation of the jaw member. Retainer 60 is then turned to cause expander nut 12ste be threaded onto bolt 52, thus forcing the lower end of jaw member 68 farther onto the tapered outer face of upset portion 64, thereby expanding the lower endv` of thefjavsfr` member* Simultaneouslythere'with, nut 'l2 movesdeeper into conical recess-' toeXpandthe'upper' end of member 63. The roughened loutersurface 4of flange S2 vaffords sufficient grippingareaito lcause rm engagement of the'ribs '16- 'throughout their length With leg i2; Relatively*lightpressureon b0ss38 of brake arm 28overcomes the'frietion set up betweenindentures 40T andi 42 and causes finger' 32 of the brakearm tcrm'ov'e'betw'een` boss 26`and the hub lorwheel I4. The procedure of releasing the brake and of removing the caster assembly from the :furniturelg should it Vbe found desirable to doiso';lwilllbeobviousiromitnefforegoing.

VWhilenonl'y onefembodiinent of the invention has beenishown anddescribed, itis conceivable thatyarious modiii'cationsmight be made Without departingfrom" the spirit of this invention', and itisld'esired'- therefore, to befliinited only by the scopezofithefappended claims. Y

Having thusfrdescribed'the` invention', what is claim'edasfnewand desired to be secured vby Letters Patentis:

Y 1'; Iniaca'sterl Wheela'ssembly having a tubular radially expansible:jawfadapted to iit into av tubuiar'member, anda Wheel casing; means forinterconnectingf-fthesai'dzjawand the casing unit, comprising a; rthreaded ibolt extending longitu'dilnallyzthrough-the `tubular member; an expander nut onthe bolt at onefe'nd of the Javt'a cupped retainer 4liavingfa perforated; tapered boss on nthe bottom thereof secured to the bolt Withthe; latter passedfthrough' the perforation; a; sleeve rigid to the saidca'sin'g;-` circumscribing. the bolt and in telescopingrelationawithfthe boss; and abearing carried within the retainer to rest upon the said casing.

2. In a caster Wheel assembly having a tubular radially expansible jaw adapted to fit into a tubular member, and a Wheel casing; means for interconnecting the said jaw and the casing unit, comprising-ai threaded bolt extending longitudinally through the tubular member; an expander nut on the bolt at one end of the jaw; a cupped retainer'having a perforated, tapered boss on the bottom thereof secured to the bolt with the latter passed through the perforation; a sleeve rigid to thev saidu casing, oircumscribing the bolt and in telescoping relation with the boss; and a bearing carried within the retainer to rest upon the said casing,- said'retainer and the bolt being rotatable as a unit to draw the expander nut and said'tapered boss toward each other to expand thejaw.

3. In a caster Wheel assembly having a tubular radially expansible jaw adaptedto ilt.V into`l a tubular member, and a Wheel casi-ng;meansfor interconnecting the said jaW- and` the -casingunit, comprising a threaded bolt extendinglongitudinally through the tubular member; an expander nut on the bolt4 at one endof the jaw; a `cupped retainer having a perforated, tapered .boss-on the bottom thereof secured tothe bolt 'with the lat-- ter passed through the perforation; a sleeve rigid to the said easing, circumscribing thevb'olt and in telescoping relation with the boss; and a. bear-Vv ingcarried Within the retainer to rest' upon the said casing, said-retainer andthe Abol-t beingfrotatable as a unit todraw the expander-nut and said tapered boss toward veach other to expand the jaw, said sleeve having-its-innerend-spaced fromthe bottom -of the retainervwhereby theload on the said assembly is carried'bythe bearing.

REFERENCES CITED The followingv references areA of record'in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date" 1,922,099' Kilian Aug. 1-5-,11933 1,927,271 Noelting et al Sept; 19; '1933 1,863,349 Noelting et al June 14, 1932 1,671,774" McIntosh' May 29,-1928 1,953,636V Skelton Apr." 3; 1934 1,138,345 Ziierer May 4, 1915 570,7867- Church Nov. V*3,11896 945,403 Mohun Jan. 4'; 1910 

